Sunblessed

The Sunblessed live an outwardly more carefree existence than their cousins from the other tribes. Inhabiting the southern Sunbound Coast of Duan Rhod in their village of Bohalo, they exist primarily as fishers, weavers, jewellers, and boat builders.

Appearance
Sunblessed have deep red and russet pelts, with a golden crescent or crest on their chests. Their simple cloth and leather attire is often adorned with runestones, painted crab claws, shark teeth, and necklaces strung with sea shells and clam shell beads. Most favour the more practical woven straw hats over feathered headdresses.

Culture and History
An even-tempered, cheerful, yet also prideful people, the Sunblessed tribe’s way of life - simple and hard working, reliant upon the sea’s bounty - has gone unchanged for centuries. As the saying goes, “Sunblessed life will change only when the tides cease".

Most Sunblessed share the belief that they inhabited Duan Rhod long before the other Ursine tribes, and are descendants of those who populated the once great Wenmera (also known as the Sunken City), the ruins of which lie off the coast nearby. Sunblessed often boast that theirs were the first paws upon the island, and they will be the last to leave it. This belief, combined with the value they place upon their traditional culture, can cause some Sunblessed to look down upon the other tribes.

Dancing is both the most popular pastime and highly important culturally, and features in almost all Sunblessed ceremonies. Dances range from simple and impromptu to elaborate choreographed spectacles involving the entire village, stoked by drums, flutes and bullroarers. The Sunblessed are particularly proud of the Dance of a Hundred Crashing Tsunamis, which is famous across all of Arthanswold - or at least so they would claim. Dances are often combined with singing as a way to relate the myriad legends and history of the tribe.

Hierarchy
The Sunblessed tribe are ruled by a chieftain, who heads a small council of elders. Their decisions invariably favour tradition over change. Most of their time is spent solving fishing territory disputes, lamenting the latest transgressions of the neighbouring tribes, and smoking herb pipes until they pass out.

Trivia

 * Folklore has it that the Sunblessed’s auburn coats stem from their ancestors' mining of the characteristically red earth of the area. A more modern interpretation is that their fur has been lightened due to prolonged exposure to the sun.
 * Chief Devours-Oceans is said to have gained his name from defeating a great shark, and consequently consuming every last part of it.
 * Once a year the entire Sunblessed tribe gather at Clamshell Cove for a day and night of celebration. The festivities climax in the infamous Dance of a Hundred Tsunamis; injuries are not uncommon.
 * Mebo’s Folly - a small beach on the southern coast - is said to be named after a fabled Sunblessed who spent all of his days collecting the incoming tide in buckets in an attempt to make the beach larger. Elders tell cubs the tale to convey the foolishness of going against nature - both of the outside world, and one’s own fibre.